Sand-box for street-railway cars.



PATENTED MAR: 14, 1905.

S: We PHELPS. SAND BOX FOR; STE-BET RAILWAY CARS APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 29,1904.

UNITED STATES Patented March 14, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

SAND-BOX FOR STREET-RAILWAY CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,879, dated March 14, 1905.

Application filed August 29, 1904. Serial No. 222,488.

1'0 all whmn it may concern Be it known that I, SIDNEY WV. PHnLPs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Globe Village, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Sand-Box for Street-Railway Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a construction for sanding the rails of street-railways.

The especial object of' this invention is to perfect and improve the sand-box for streetrailways which is described and claimed in United States Letters Patent No. 611,887, granted to me January 23, 1900.

To these ends this invention consists of the sand-box for street-railways and of the combinations of parts therewith, as hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the connectiosn from an operating-handle to two sand-boxes, one sand-box being located at each side of a car. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of one of the sand-boxes and the reservoir connected therewith. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the sand-boxes. Fig. 4. is asectional plan view of the same. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the discharge-pipe and of the means for flexibly supporting the same in a car-truck, and Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view of the adjustable joint for the discharge-pipe yoke.

In my prior patent before referred to I have disclosed and claimed a sand-box construction which is controlled by a lever located on the dashboard of the car in position to be reached by the motorman and which is operated in the same manner as the controlling-lever of the rheostat and of the air-brake. In my previous patent the sand was discharged through a curved pipe carried by the sand-box itself.

One especial object of the present invention is to provide for-discharging the sand more accurately upon the rails. I accomplish this result by employing discharge-pipes which are flexibly mounted upon the truck-frames. A special construction is used for mounting the discharge-pipes so that said pipes may be set to different angles and will be free to swing or turn in any direction.

The discharge-pipes are connected with their respective sand-boxes by means of flexible hose-pipes, so that in passing around curves the turning of the truck-frameswith respect to the car-body will not disarrange the parts, the mounting of the discharge-nozzles providing an efficient discharge of sand in front of the wheels under all conditions.

Further objects of this invention are to support the sand-boxes from the lioor or body portion of the car in such a way that the sand will be protected from the entrance of water and to combine the sand-boxes at opposite sides of a car with a single operating-handle.

Referring to the accompanying drawings and in detail, 10 designates a bracket which may be secured to the car-dasher or other convenient support. Pivotall y mounted in thebracket 10 and extending down through the floor of the car is a shaft 11, having a controlling-lever 12 at its upper end. Pivotally connected with a crank-arm extending from the shaft 11 is a link 13. Adjustably fastened to opposite sides of the link 13 by means of clamps 14 are the arms or extensions 15. Each of the arms 15 controls the discharge of sand from one of the sand-boxes, and a description of one set of connections from one of the arms 15 will therefore be sufiicient. As shown, each of the arms 15 is pivotally connected with a lever 16, the other end of the lever 16 being connected by a link 17 to a cut-off plate or shutter 18. The cut-off plate or shutter 18 controls the discharge of sand from the sand-box.

The sand-box and the manner in which the same is fastened in place in a car are most clearly illustrated in Figs. 2 to A, inclusive. As shown in these figures, each of the sandboxes is provided with a flange 19, which extends up through the floor of a car-body B, and also formed with the sand-box is a flange 20, which is bolted to the under side of the floor of the car-body B.

Connected with the sand-box and fitting down inside thereof is a tapering reservoir or hopper 21, the reservoir 21 being preferably located under a car-seat. By having the lower end of the reservoir or hopper 21 fitted inside of the upper edge of the flange of a sand-box, which l'lange extends slightly above the floor, I have provided a joint between the hopper and the box itself which will not permit the water to run from the top of the floor down into the sand.

Mounted in the sand-box is a shaft 22, carrying stirring-arms and the cut-ofl plate or shutter 18. The lower end of the shaft 22 is mounted in a support or bracket 23.

Fitted on the lower part of the sand-box is a funnel Qet. Connected with the lower end of the funnel 24 is a flexible hose or pipe 25, which connects to a discharge-pipe.

The dischargeape and the method of supporting the samein a tri'ick-frame A are most clearly illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. As shown in these ligures, 26 designates the dischargepipe, which is connected at its upper end to the flexible hose 25.

In order to provide an adjustable and flexible support for the discharge-pipe, I employ a bearing-plate 27 having a partiallyspherical bearing. Mounted in the bearing-plate 27 is a supporting-yoke having a partiallyspherical bearing 28 which lits the plate 27, these parts being fastened together by means of abolt29. Thehead of the bolt29 is rounded, and the bolt-hole through the part 28 is enlarged, so that the yoke can be turned or adjusted to any desired angular position, this universal adjustment of the yoke being especially adapted for the application of sandboxes to various styles and types of truckframes. The discharge-pipe 26 is provided near its center with a ring 31, and connecting the ring 31 with the arms of the supportingyoke are two oppositely -disposed tensionsprings 30. By means of this construction the discharge-pipes may be positioned and littcd to different styles of truck-frames, and when fastened in place the dischargc-pipes will be mounted so that they will be free to be turned or swung in any direction.

1 am aware that changes may be made in the construction of my sand-boxes by those who are skilled in the art without departing from the scope of my invention as expressed in the claims. i do not wish, therefore, to be limited to the form 1 have herein shown and described; but

\Vhatl do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

l. in a construction of the class described, the combination of a sand-box mounted on the body of a car, a discharge-pirm flexibly mounted on a truck-frame, and a flexible hose connecting the sand-box and discharge-pipe.

2. in a construction of the class described, the combination of a sand-box mounted on the body of a car, a discharge-pipe in the truck-frame supported near its center so as to be free to be swung or turned in any direction, and a flexible hose connecting the sand-box and discharge-pipe.

3. In a construction of the class described, the combination of a sand-box mounted on the body of a car, a dischargeupe, means for supporting the discharge-pipe in a truckframe, comprising a yoke with oppositelyarranged tension-springs connecting the arms of the yoke substantially with the center of the discharge-pipe, whereby the dischargepipe is free to be swung or turned in any direction, and a hose connecting the sand-box and discharge-pipe.

4. In a construction of the class described, the combination of a sand-box mounted in a car-body, a discharge-pipe, means for supporting the discharge-pipe in a truck-frame, comprising a yoke having a ball-and-socket joint, and means for clamping the yoke in different adjusted positions, and a hose connecting the discharge-pipe and the sand-box.

5. In a construction of the class described, the combination of a sand-box mounted in a car-body, a discharge-pipe, means for mounting the discharge-pipe in a truck-frame, comprising a yoke, a bearing-plate therefor, the yoke having a ball-and-socket connection with the bearing-plate, a bolt fastening the yoke in different adjusted positions, oppositelyarranged tension-springs connecting the arms of the yoke substantially with the center of the discharge-pipe, whereby the dischargepipe is free to swing or turn in any direction, and a hose connecting the discharge-pipe and the sand-box.

6. In. a construction of the class described, the combination of a sand-box, means for fastening the sand-box to the under side of a car-floor so that its upper edge will extend up above the surface of the floor, a reservoir or hopper fitted inside of the sand-box, a discharge-pipe [iexibly mounted in the truckframe so as to be free to turn or swing in any direction, and a hose connecting the dischargepipe and sand-box.

7 In a construction of the class described, the combination of a vertical shaft having a controlling-lever at its upper end, means for mounting the shaft in position to be operated by the motorman of an electric car, a link extending from a crank-arm of the vertical shaft, two sets of connections from the link, one set of connections controlling the discharge of sand from a sand-box at one side of the car, and the other set of connections controlling the discharge of sand from a sandbox at the other side of the car, a dischargepipe for each sandbox, means for supporting each of the discharge-pipes in a truck-frame, comprising a bearing-plate, a yoke having ball-and-socket connection with the bearingplate, oppositely arranged tension springs my hand in the presence of two subscribing connecting the arms of the yoke substantially witnesses. with the center of a discharge-pipe, whereby the discharge-pipe will be free to be swung 5 or turned in any direction, and a hose con- Witnesses:

necting each discharge-pipe with its sand-box. PHILIP W. SOUTI-IGATE, In testimony whereof I have hereunto set ANGIE M. GODDARD.

SIDNEY W. PHELPS. 

